EDMONTON - That Food This Wine is a new monthly column featuring wine pairings for unique dishes served in Edmonton restaurants. You may not love every suggested pairing, but the hope is that it makes you think about the combination and experiment on your own. There’s no right or wrong in food and wine pairing. The only wrong is in not trying.

That Food: Picanha (Beef Rumpsteak) at Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse

The success of the meat-centric Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse should be no surprise given the abundance of carnivores prowling our city. The only surprise is that someone didn’t open this style of meat-etarian’s paradise sooner.

Pampa offers numerous cuts of meat, slow roasted on a rotisserie-style grill over hardwood charcoals, served on skewers and carved tableside (rodizio-style service) in the spirit of a traditional churrascaria (Brazilian steakhouse).

While a business exchange student in southern Brazil, co-owner Oscar Lopez, a University of Alberta graduate, was having dinner with his Brazilian roommate when a light bulb went on: Combine the showmanship of rodizio service and the superior quality of Alberta beef with a meat-loving population in an all-you-can-eat concept. How could he go wrong?

His instincts proved correct and to say that the restaurant has been well received by Edmontonians is quite the understatement. Pampa has been consistently busy since opening in 2011 and is serving 1,500 kilograms of meat per week.

Lopez trained for two years under the supervision of Brazilian grill masters at a churrascaria in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.

The picanha served at Pampa is beef rumpsteak, or the top cap of the top sirloin, cut flat across the grain so that it can be skewered and slow roasted on the grill. It is a cut generally found in Brazilian steakhouses. At Pampa, they only season the picanha with imported Brazilian sea salt. It is succulently tender and flavourful.

Deep and dark in colour with lush, ripe fruit flavours of blackberries and blueberries, the wine offers hints of liquorice and chocolate, an intriguing touch of gaminess, rich velvety tannins, and a long, full, lifted finish. The bold flavours of the wine pair beautifully with the picanha, whose natural flavours are enhanced by slow roasting over charcoal, and the velvety tannins work perfectly with the succulent rumpsteak to cleanse and refresh the palate in anticipation of the next taste.

Alicante Bouschet is a grape not often found bottled on its own, but it has become more common in Portugal.

Pampa’s move towards a predominantly Brazilian wine list has been met with much interest and some hesitation from their diners. Brazil’s modern wine industry is relatively young and not as evolved as its better known South American neighbours.

In 2012, almost 350,000 cases of red wine from Argentina and Chile were imported into Alberta, while Brazilian and Uruguayan red wine imports combined accounted for less than 140 cases.

Lopez believes that he and the Brazilian wine industry are up for the challenge.

The Pizzato Alicante Bouschet is a great match with Pampa’s meaty menu and evidence of the potential for quality of the Brazilian wine industry.

Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse is located at 9929 109th St. For reservations: 780-756-7030 or pampasteakhouse.com

Have a question about anything having to do with wine or pairing food and wine? Email Gurvinder g@vinomaniawines.com

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